I didn't know there was a different way! +1 :D
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AlenannoMay 24 '11 at 23:08

@Alenanno Double quotes are considered standard english, although single quotes would be understood. The single quote is tends be used if you quoting a quote, eg he said "the newspaper claimed 'the sky is blue.' "
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Twelve47May 25 '11 at 10:47

5 Answers
5

Reversed «Guillemets» and ‹ ›. There is usually a thin space between the word and the quotation mark.

The first version is the most used in Germany, followed by the second.
The third is the preferred in Switzerland but allowed in a German text too.

When to use what?

Use „Gänsefüßchen“ for handwritings. They are easy to write.

Use »Guillemets« for printed text or for text for the screen. They don’t break the line as hard as „Gänsefüßchen“, and all fonts use them correctly. „Gänsefüßchen“ on the other hand are broken in Tahoma and Verdana: They point in the wrong direction.

How to type?

On a German PC keyboard the characters are not available. But there is useful software for Windows. ac'tivAid Forte has a module CharacterAid:

Nice answer. How do you write the tiny spaces between the arrows and the text?
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TimMay 25 '11 at 6:10

7

Excellent answer, but " is perfectly acceptable in machine-written text, for e-mail, forums, etc. Word should autocorrect to the correct marks when language is set to German (Germany).
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fzwoMay 25 '11 at 10:52

1

@fzwo " is in German a short hand for Zoll (inch). 2" are 2 inches.
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toschoMay 25 '11 at 10:56

2

+1 for " being acceptable when typing on a computer (and not using LaTeX).
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0x6d64Nov 16 '11 at 7:13

2

I always try to use the right marks. On a German keyboard quotation marks are often available through AltGr+y (»), AltGr+x («), AltGr+v („), AltGr+b (“) and AltGr+n (”).
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cgniederOct 23 '12 at 16:23

As far as I know » this « is French quoting style and „this” is German. Not only the correct quoting symbols are important though. I remember quite specific rules for commas etc. that we learned at school, which were quite different from the English and French. This might be another question though and cannot be answered by me in detail.

„…“ & ‚…‘

These are the two correct ways to quote in german. Note that unless in most other languages, including English, the direction of the quotes is the other way round. While English quotes (“…”) are 66-99, in German it is the other way round: 99-66 (if you look at the symbols in a serif font, you will see what the 6/9 refers to). And of course apart from the direction, the first one is placed at the bottom.

You may use guillements (»…« and ›…‹) as an alternative, but „this“ is the preferred way.